


The Jealousy Trials

by ACR



Series: The Jealousy Trials [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Multi, sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-14
Updated: 2012-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-12 02:59:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/485920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACR/pseuds/ACR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lydia Martin is not stupid. She sees exactly the way Stiles looks at Derek, and the way Derek looks at Stiles. But they are stupid boys, and if anyone can get them together, it’s her. So she has a plan and the intent is simple; make Derek Hale as jealous as physically possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Greek Gods and Gay Clubs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia Martin is not stupid. She sees exactly the way Stiles looks at Derek, and the way Derek looks at Stiles. But they are stupid boys, and if anyone can get them together, it’s her. So she has a plan and the intent is simple; make Derek Hale as jealous as physically possible.

Lydia prides herself on one thing, and that is the ability to read people and situations. She thinks she would make an excellent psychologist, actually. So when she has been officially added as a human in a group of werewolves, she makes it her job to be able to read everyone. To be able to help any situation as much as she can. Because if there’s something these idiots aren’t good at, it’s helping each other.

Lydia used to be obsessed with wolves, which is now the most ironic thing when she really stops to think about it. While other girls in elementary school were playing with barbies and kissing boys on the playground, Lydia was reading books like they were the only thing keeping her alive. Sometimes she thinks they were. Even back then, home was something she knew nothing about because her parents were always either ignoring each other or screaming at each other, and Lydia never could decide which one was worse. She found peace in reading books, and particularly loved reading about wolves.

She knew that wolves traveled in packs, but who didn’t? What a lot of people didn’t know was that at the core of most packs was two wolves, not one. Parent wolves, they were usually called, and the rest of the pack was their young. It made sense if you thought about it. A pack was supposed to be like a family, and every family needed a mother figure and a father figure. Derek was the alpha dad in their dysfunctional werewolf group. He was rough, trained them to protect themselves in the big world, and reprimanded and blamed himself when one of them got hurt. Stiles, though human, was the obvious alpha mom. He sacrificed everything for the pack, went out of his way to make sure every individual person (Lydia included) was good and fine. He was the one who brought them all together, even if they were fighting, to watch lame movies and eat bad popcorn.

It was the dynamic that was truly interesting. According to wolf theory, the alpha parents were supposed to be equal to each other. And in some, bizarre way, they were. Derek was physically terrifying. He could wolf out and become something that could kill you. Even in his human form, he gave off an aura of tension and anger and dominance that set his place as the leader. Stiles may have been human but he butted heads in his own battle for leadership, in a different way. Stiles brought them safety, put their needs far over his. Scott, Alison, Lydia, and Jackson followed his command because, he may not have been particularly strong in the way of being able to turn into a wolf, but no one was smarter than Stiles. Not even Lydia. And when Dereks eyes turned red and he bared his teeth, Stiles stepped up to him in something that was reminiscent of stupidity. But Derek never even harmed a hair on Stiles’ head; he always backed down. They were, despite all oddness, actually equal in pack terms.

That’s interesting, so she pays attention to them. And the first thing Lydia notices about Stiles when she starts to really become his friend, is that he never, ever stops moving.

When he’s driving, he is always tapping his finger in a rhythm on the steering wheel. When he is sitting down in class, he is chewing on an eraser or playing with a pencil while he thinks. When he is talking, his arms dart out like it’s the best way to tell a story or get his point across. When he is sitting down on the couch during pack movie nights, his leg is bouncing. Even when he’s standing still, listening to what the others have to say, he’s playing with the frayed end of his hoodie sleeve, or rubbing his hands together nervously. Every little movement is dramatic and it’s almost hilarious, because Stiles certainly doesn’t realize he is doing it.

His face is equally as expressive. His mouth does a little twitch thing when Scott is talking, like he’s trying hard not to laugh at his best friends lameness. His grin reaches his eyes and is almost always coupled by a funny remark. Stiles never actually frowns, even when he is sad. He has a facial expression for everything, and his eyes might be the best part. He only ever makes eye contact when he’s serious, or if he’s trying way too hard to make it seem like he’s paying attention. When he’s really annoyed and too nice to say so (which is always), his eyes are looking everywhere else but your face, usually upwards to hide his eye roll. When he is hurt or ashamed, a feeling that always seems coupled by the thought of his dad or the mention of his mom, he looks right at the ground.

But it’s one look in particular that really shocks her, and it’s rare, so she starts looking for it. When Stiles looks at her, his eyes are big and bright, and it’s the same look he shares with everyone. But when Stiles looks at one particularly surly werewolf alpha, he makes eye contact and always, always listens, and his tongue darts out over his lips almost unconsciously and his face flushes.

And that is when Lydia realizes Stiles has the hots for Derek.

It didn’t particularly mean much if Derek didn’t feel the same, and Lydia knew that. So she started watching Dereks actions carefully, keeping what she knew about wolves in mind as well. Though Stiles was pathetically human and could give away and desires by his facial expression and awkwardness, Derek wasn’t even BORN human, and he had instincts to keep to. So she watched.

She first noticed little things that WERE surprisingly human. Mainly Derek looking flustered when Stiles gave him the occasional compliment on his actions, followed by some certain pride. She also maybe noticed the little annoyed look Derek had when Stiles told Lydia she was beautiful, and convinced herself there was seriously some potential for jealousy in Derek. Mostly though, what she knew about wolves helped her indefinitely. He was the alpha, and he wasn’t supposed to be submissive at all. But when it came to Stiles, Derek bowed his head and let Stiles take over certain situations. Derek was also constantly touching Stiles in some way or the other. A hand on his shoulder to steady him, a casual body-to-body bump when Stiles looked particularly sad, in a way that was almost reassuring. Most of all, Lydia saw Derek, who looked infuriated by the idea of anyone touching him ever, let Stiles play annoyingly with his hair while Derek scowled and acted like he wasn’t enjoying it.

And that is when Lydia realized the true affection Derek had for Stiles.

However, she also knew they were boys, and more importantly she had a pretty great grasp on who they were as individuals. She was willing to bet that Stiles didn’t even realize he had feelings for the alpha wolf, and he’d probably spend forever and a day groaning about how much he wanted a girlfriend and denying those feelings. Derek was probably wiser about the feelings, but probably ten times less likely to do something about it because he was a ‘dangerous alpha wolf’ or some bullshit like that.

And Lydia was completely not okay with any of that. So obviously, she was going to have to do something. And if she was good at anything, it was concocting evil and devious plans.

*

When Lydia first met Jackson, she was 14 and it was probably straight downhill from there. She was the most popular girl in the school and all the boys wanted her. She learned to hide her smarts behind a heavy layer of casual bitchiness and good looks she worked a little too hard on. And Jackson was everything a girl could want. He was attractive and he got good grades and he was on the lacrosse team, and he, like everyone else, wanted her. But for once, it seemed like he actually liked her as a person instead of an item. And it was good to be wanted that way.

Her life had changed a lot when she met him. When he became captain of the lacrosse team, her popularity skyrocketed. People loved her, always came to her parties, they wanted to screw her or be her. She met Danny through Jackson, who became a good friend that always saw past her bullshit. She eventually met Allison and that was like a dream came true, even if she was being kept in the dark about a lot of stuff back then. Even as her relationship with Jackson went downhill and eventually depleted and everyone started to think she was crazy, she couldn’t complain about her new group of friends. Not even a bit.

Anyway, the point was, even though she had this whole new pack stuff to deal with, she still had some other friends, specifically Danny. And she was going to need his help with this whole matchmaking thing because, he was perfect. So she slid into the table across from him in History one Thursday and flashed him her best, award-winning smile.

He barely glanced up at her, “What do you want?”

“Uh, hello? I need my wonderful gay prince to help me in an evil plan, obviously.” She quirked her head and raised her eyebrows at him, trying to be adorable as possible.

Of course it didn’t work. It never worked on Danny, “What kind of evil plan? Because if you’re trying to out a girl as secretly a boy again, I might beat the shit out of you.”

“Are you ever going to let that go?”

“Nope,” He smiled and finally looked up at her, “Or, is this a plan to get Jackson back?”

Lydia opened her mouth and then closed it again. She and Jackson had been about as close lately as they could possibly be, with pack stuff and everything, but they might as well have been rocks for all that mattered. He only ever talked to her when it was convenient, and she tried her best to pretend it wasn’t tearing her apart inside.

“Jackson has no interest in getting back together,” She said simply, “He has made that very clear.”

They slipped into an awkward silence. Dannys face looked like something torn between wanting to argue, and knowing she was right. Finally he cleared his throat, “Okay. So, what is your evil plan then?”

“Stiles Stilinski. He’s dastardly cute, right?”

“Oh god,” Danny set down the History book he had been reading, “I already hate where this is going.”

She laughed, “Answer the question.”

Danny frowned uncomfortably before talking, “Well, Stiles would be a lot cuter if he didn’t dress like a drunk lumberjack. I mean, really? What is UP with the passionate love affair with plaid? It’s gross. Also, the hair. No one in their right mind likes a shaved head, not in this day and age. Also, he’d be pretty cute if he shut his mouth. He runs it a little past cute and right into obnoxious.”

Lydia blinked, considering this. Danny picked up his book half-heartedly and turned the page, scribbling something into his notebook.

“Interesting.” She said simply.

“Are you into him or something?” Danny looked like he seriously doubted it, but decided to ask anyway. Lydia laughed a little too hard. Stiles was adorable, really, and the most sincere person she knew. But THEY would NEVER happen in the history of ever. It was a shame, really. Because after dating Jackson for over a year, she could use a nice guy.

“No. I might need you to take him out on a date though. Or several.”

Danny fumbled with his pencil and it fell off the table, hitting the floor with an ominous little tapping noise. He stared at her and opened him mouth, “Stiles…” His voice cracked, so he coughed before continuing, “Stiles is gay?”

“Calm down there Peitho,” She said sarcastically, “It’s not like I’m asking you to seduce him. And he needs a little… head check. Because he is OBVIOUSLY into guys. One guy in particular.”

“Me?”

Lydia snorted, “No. But you’re tall, dark, and intellectually stimulating. Everything to make someone jealous.”

Danny shifted weirdly in his seat, shaking off the shock of her little plan, “I don’t want to lead Stiles on. Even if it’s just to make who he really likes jealous. I value his friendship.”

She frowned. Danny was so insufferably nice sometimes it was annoying. But he was right. She didn’t want to HURT Stiles, just give him a swift kick in the ass that he needed desperately.

“Why can’t you do it yourself?” He asked after she was quietly thinking for a moment.

“Because, Stiles used to like me. And I’m a girl. It won’t have the desired effect.”

“You’re probably right.”

“Okay so… what if we make it LOOK like a date to Derek, but not to Stiles. What if we tell Stiles we’re making it our mission to get him LAID? Which, we kind of are.”

Danny leaned down and picked his pencil off the floor finally, lowering his voice as the teacher grew close to their table, “Fine. But I am only agreeing to this because it looks like it will make you happy, and I really owe that to you after Jackson has been such an insufferable douche.”

*

Later on Lydia pulled a very reluctant Danny over to where Stiles was standing and reading an old looking book at his locker.

“What are you doing tomorrow night, cutie?” Lydia leaned against the metal next to him and smiled widely. Danny stood next to her and folded his arms. Stiles looked over at her very slowly, like he was trying to comprehend what she had just said and why it had ended in ‘cutie’.

“Uh,” He blinked, “Nothing? Absolutely nothing. At all. Why?”

Lydia nudged Danny with her elbow and he rolled his eyes hard before speaking, “We’re going to get you laid.”

Stiles mouth fell open stupidly and Lydia wondered if she was crazy for taking up this task at all, “This is a lot like that threesome dream I keep having.”

Lydias eyes grew wide and saw Dannys jaw pretty much fall off out of the corner of her eye.

“What?” She said loudly.

Stiles’ cheeks got fondly red, “Nothing.” He said quickly, giving his best inward-kicking-because-he-can’t-keep-his-mouth-shut face.

Danny coughed awkwardly, “Anyway, we want to take you clubbing tomorrow. So are you in or not?”

Stiles looked unsure, furrowing his eyebrows, “Uh, sure. Why not.”

Lydia smiled, “That’s the spirit.”

*

After school Friday had Lydia at Stiles’ house, digging through his closet. He looked remarkably uncomfortable with her doing it, but she honestly couldn’t care less.

“Do you realize you have like, no clothes?” She frowned deeply into the empty chasm where clothes should have been.

“Uh, yeah. I run with wolves. I’ve had to throw away like six shirts because they keep getting ripped or bloody. It’s a little depressing actually.” She heard a noise and turned to look at him. He was digging through her purse.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“Looking through your stuff. You know, since you’re looking through mine.” He smirked. She rolled her eyes and turned back to looking through these obnoxious clothes. It was futile. Danny was right, Stiles had no fashion sense at all.

“Here, try this on.” She settled on a nice looking black v-neck and threw it at him.

He grabbed it and looked awkward at the idea of her seeing him with his shirt off. She rolled her eyes heavily and turned away, gesturing that she wasn’t even going to look. She kept searching for at least some nice skinny jeans. They had to be here. She heard undressing sounds behind her.

“Why are you bringing your camera?” Stiles said, a bit muffled by the sound of cloth over his face. He must have seen it in her purse.

“Because I want to take lots of pictures. We need more pictures of our little human posse, since the wolves can’t really be bothered to take good pics.

“That’s because their eyes get all glowy. It’s actually terrifying.” Stiles said back, “Uh, it’s on.”

Lydia spun around and nearly had to stop herself from gasping. It was a little small, but it was perfect. With all the layers Stiles wore constantly, she had almost never stopped to think about his actual build. He was slender, yeah, but not skinny. The tight black cloth hugged his arms, which were strangely muscular, probably because yeah, Stiles actually was on the Lacrosse team. The wide collar showed off his distinct collar bone and neck. And the way it hugged his hips- dear GOD. This kid could totally get it.

“My eyes are up here,” Stiles snapped his fingers in front of her like he was annoyed, but when she met his eyes they looked clearly pleased.

“You look perfect,” She grinned, “You look like a total twink.”

He snorted and looked at the full body mirror on the wall, “Are you kidding? I look totally manly and sexy.”

She shut the closet door, “Now we just need something to do with those legs, and since you’re pretty boring in the pants section, I think a shopping trip is in order.”

He nodded and reached for his red hoodie. Lydia slapped his hand away so fast she shocked herself, and Stiles made a little hurt noise in his throat.

“No. No red hoodie. You’re lucky I don’t burn that thing alive.”

*

When eight o’ clock finally rolled around, they stepped out of Stiles’ crappy jeep to get a view of the club. Stiles was wearing that wonderful black v-neck coupled with some bright purple skinny jeans they had bought him. They hugged his lean legs wonderfully, and they were settled a little lower than they should be, making his ass look fantastic. Lydia was completely pleased with herself.

Danny looked really good too, clad in a blue t-shirt and tight pants rolled up to show off his sweet little calves. Lydia had almost considered wearing her black leather dress, but decided on her most comfortable flowery sun-dress instead. As fun as it might be to take home some needy butch lesbian, tonight was definitely not about her.

“Before we go in, let’s get a picture!” She pulled out her camera and looped her arm around Stiles’ waist, Danny doing the same on his other side. They pressed their faces together and Stiles laughed.

“Definitely like my threesome dream,” He muttered before they snapped a dorky and yet totally adorable picture of the three of them.

She smacked Stiles’ ass as she pulled away to look at it, “Perfect. Let’s go inside.”

“Yeah. And that threeway,” Danny flicked Stiles’ ear, “Is so  _only_  happening in your dreams.”

Stiles grinned and they all walked up to the doors where a small line was already formed. When they joined the line, Lydia spun around and placed a small piece of plastic in Stiles hand, “This is my gift to you.”

He looked confused and then blinked down at his palm, “Whoa. This is a, uh, really real looking fake ID.”

“That’s because I’m a ninja, obviously. You need it to get in, it’s an 18 or older club.”

Danny nodded, “They usually don’t check your ID’s to drink, but I made it say you’re 21 just in case they do. Unless, er, you’re opposed to drinking. Which is totally fine.”

Lydia rolled her eyes and looked at Stiles. It was actually not okay. They were going to need him at least a little drunk in order for this part of the plan to work. And since she had seen him get shitfaced on several occasions, not seeming to care that his dad was a police officer, it wasn’t like he was going to oppose to some seriously good booze.

“Nope.” Stiles said, adjusting the hem of his shirt, “Just usually when I drink, it’s provided by others. And definitely not because I have an extremely illegal piece of plastic.”

“Shut up,” Lydia said curtly. But she smirked at him as they went forward in the line. They flashed the ID’s in the generally direction of the large, native-american looking Bouncer and he didn’t say anything, but looked hesitantly at Stiles, who paled and nearly gave away their cover.

“It’s his birthday today,” Lydia blinked innocently, “We need him drunk enough to not remember a thing tomorrow! You understand, right?” Luckily she was the most charming thing since Lucille Ball, and the Bouncer just smiled at her and nodded. They advanced past him and through the dark doors that led into the club.

If the music was loud outside, it was deafening in here. The usual techno was replaced with the bass-pumping of dubstep across the floor, and bright orange and green lights danced out across them. She loved this place, it even had a legit disco ball, and that was pure awesome. The DJ had a huge stand in the center of the gaint room, and there were spiral stairs that led up into other areas where people were dancing and grinding. Lydia pulled up all her confidence and best bitch face and walked through the crowd of people towards the bar.

She ordered three of the most fruity looking drinks on the menu, and sure enough, the guy didn’t even ask to see their IDs, just nodded. The two boys took a seat, and Lydia really wished Stiles didn’t look so much like a deer in the headlights, or just a teenage boy with zero confidence and a fake ID in a dance club.

“Hey,” She said loudly over the music, leaning towards him so he would hear her, “We are here to have fun so stop looking like a rabbit.”

He frowned at her, “This is a gay club! You brought me to get laid, at a gay club.”

She smiled wickedly and glanced at Danny, who was grinning like an idiot, “Yeah, where else would I take you to get laid?”

“A straight club…” He trailed off, and Lydia followed his hungry gaze. He was staring at two guys, obviously jumped up on some sort of ecstasy, making out and basically having sex through their clothes while they danced. Lydia rolled her eyes. Stiles couldn’t be any more obvious if he tried.

Danny elbowed him for her, though, making his eyes snap back up as the bartender brought them some pinkish looking drinks with tiny umbrellas and lemons and everything. Awesome.

She reached out to sip hers, and watched Stiles pick his up and put the straw to his mouth. Jesus Christ, who taught this kid how to use a straw? Whoever was on the receiving end of that blow job (hopefully Derek) was going to be really confused. What shocked her more, thought, was the way Stiles downed the drink within few moments and still looked completely unphased.

He turned and saw her staring, “What?”

“Got a little drinking problem there, Stiles?” She smirked. She turned to the bartender and flashed him a brilliant smile, “Can I get another drink for my friend? Something a little stronger this time.”

“And put them on my tab,” Danny said, “Danny Mahealani.”

“You have a tab here?” Stiles laughed, “And  _I_  have the problem.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. They were going to need to get dancing if they wanted to all be sober enough to have one of them drive. She turned on the two boys and nodded at Danny. He ignored her, so she spoke loudly over the blaring techno.

“Danny, go dance with Stiles. Teach him how to grind.”

Stiles looked panicked for a second, “Uh, what about you?”

She reached in her purse as Stiles got started chugging his second drink, this one was lime green. She pulled out her camera and winked, “I have to take pictures, of course.”

Stiles looked extremely hesitant, but any argument was cut off by Danny grabbing his hand and pulling on him. Stiles sighed and put the drink on the counter, following Danny out onto the dance floor. Lydia readied her camera and felt the most evil smile ever on her face.

This was going to work.

*

The rest of the night passed in something like a dirty haze. After a few drinks, Lydia was pretty done, and Stiles was lovingly willing to grind with whoever would touch him all night. Luckily Danny had the sense to not drink anymore to keep Stiles from losing his poor little virginity to random strangers, because they really didn’t want that. But Lydia didn’t have the same sense. She watched random couples, mostly gay but occasionally straight, kissing and dancing and it made her stomach hurt. She wanted that. And she deserved that. She deserved to be grinded on and kissed in public. Jackson never did any of that for her, he just hurt her.

So maybe she went a little crazy on the drinking, and at some point forgot everything. And definitely woke up the next morning in a random bed she didn’t recognize.

She frowned and looked down at the short haired girl asleep next to her. Okay, not the first time she snuck a one night stand, and not her first experience with a chick, but definitely the first time the two things mixed together. Huh.

Her panties were still on, so Lydia snuck out of the bed and found her bra on the floor. She quickly snapped it back on and ignored the pounding in her head. She slid on her dress, suddenly glad she had chose something that would make her walk of shame not completely humiliating. She nabbed her heels from the floor and left the room. She glanced around a bit panicky and then sighed in relief when she saw her purse, fine and untouched on the counter. She grabbed it and headed for the door. She glanced herself in the window and winced. There was literally no saving her hair now. This walk of shame was going to be pretty bad.

She pulled her cellphone out of her purse and closed the apartment door slowly. She headed down the stairs and punched in Dannys number.

“Hello?” He said, he sounded groggy. It must have been earlier than it looked.

“Dude, you’re a total asshole.” She snapped, “Letting me go home with some random chick? Talk about a dick move.”

He sort of huffed out a laugh, which was then cut off, “Uh. Fuck, we have some, uh… worse problems than that. Shit.”

She froze, “What?”

“Where are you?”

She looked around, “Uh, some apartments. Theres a seven eleven up the street. And… the mall? Do you know where that is?”

“Yeah,” She heard the sounds of him hurriedly getting dressed, “Okay. I’m going to come get you. Stay there.”

“Danny what’s wrong?” She sighed, pulling out her camera. The battery is dead, “If you lost Stiles I’m going to kill you.”

“No, I dropped him off at his house and got my car like you said. But, uh, I think I might have given him oral last night.”

Lydia blinked, “THINK?”

“Eh, I did. He was really horny and coming onto me, I had to do something!”

Her eyes were probably the size of quarters and her mouth WAS open, “Holy shit, Danny. You are a total idiot!”

“Hey, maybe he won’t remember.” She heard Dannys car starting.

“You better hope he doesn’t.” She grunted and hung up. Her head was hurting way too much for this shit right now. But since she didn’t remember her first lesbian sex experience (or maybe there was no sex. She had no idea) from being too drunk, then Stiles probably wouldn’t remember a tiny blow job, since he was WAY drunker than her. The best choice was to just forget it happened.

*

Monday rolled around with much ease, and Danny was wearing his best ashamed face. Lydia glared hard at him, and they approached Stiles carefully. But when Stiles just grinned at them, they realized he totally didn’t remember Friday night. Phew. Bullet dodged.

Stiles practically bounced up to them, “Friday was awesome! Well, the parts of it I remember. I had a lot to drink. But since my ass wasn’t hurting I think it’s safe to say I left with my virginity untouched?”

“Unfortunately our plan to get a penis inside of you was futile,” Lydia sighed dramatically, “But maybe our work isn’t done.”

“Uh-huh,” Stiles crunched up his face like he was trying to read her. She grinned evilly and he gave up, “How about you, Danny boy? Get any dick?”

Danny went pale and Lydia stepped on his foot.

“Uh, no.” Danny said, “I was a little too sober and having to keep an eye on your drunk ass. Like four different guys tried to take you all the way to home base right there on the dance floor.”

Stiles looked way too pleased by that, “I’m wicked hot.”

“Alright Narcissus,” Lydia rolled her eyes, “Go get to class or something. We just wanted to make sure you weren’t physically damaged, though your ego apparently isn’t.”

He laughed, “I’m fine. And yeah, I’ll go to class now. But you,” He pointed at Lydia, “Don’t forget about that thing tonight.”

“I’m not dumb, but thanks.” She smiled at him fondly and watched him go, remembering the pack meeting they had tonight. She glanced at Danny and saw the weird look on his face. Yeah, she understood that feeling. After all that had happened in the past few months, Danny was still being kept in the dark. If it were up to her she’d tell him just because he was such a caring guy, and he deserved to know why all his friends discussed mysterious meetings and couldn’t be found on the full moon. But it wasn’t up to her, it was up to Derek.

She turned and grabbed Dannys elbow, “You are so lucky he doesn’t remember your mouth’s little cock problem.”

He shrugged, “I’ve never been good enough at blowjobs to make them memorable. Especially with Stiles never-stops-moving-or-talking Stilinski in my mouth.”

Lydia snorted, “Wow, TMI. Anyway, shall we skip first period?”

He narrowed his eyes, “Why?”

She pulled her camera out of her bag and eyed it, “Phase two begins now.”

*

The pictures from the night were miraculous, and Lydia had nearly keeled over with joy when she saw them for the first time. A few of them were blurry or stupid, so she deleted them and narrowed it down to six that definitely needed to exist.

The first was the picture from the parking lot. Stiles with the cutest grin he could muster up, Danny looking devious and sexy, and Lydia looking as awesome as she usually did. It was really perfect; profile picture material. The second was of Danny grinding on Stiles. Stiles looked awkward but like he was having a good time, and it just looked adorably friendly. Plus is had a really good view of how good he had looked in his little outfit. The third was a picture of Stiles sandwiched between Danny and some random guy grinding on him, and Stiles looks both uncomfortable and hilarious. Lydia could tell this is when the drunk photos were starting. The fourth was Stiles covering his mouth and looking positively embarrassed while surrounded by a bunch of shirtless muscular guys. GOD how did they even GET this picture? The fifth was a full body shot of Stiles with Lydia kissing him on the cheek, probably taken by Danny. They both looked shit-faced and the best part of it was that Stiles shirt was riding up when it was taken, showing off Stiles’ very yummy looking stomach and happy trail.

The sixth photo was possibly the best. It was a close up of Stiles and Danny, Stiles with his lips pressed dangerously close to Dannys lips, with a little pink tongue making an appearance. These couldn’t have been more perfect if Lydia had planned it.

Which, she sort of did.

She took the connector cable out of Dannys hand and quickly uploaded the photos onto the library computer. She gently chewed her lip and looked at them in high quality on the screen. Danny saw the last photo and dropped his head with a thump on the table.

“God I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” He mumbled. She rolled her eyes and opened up the internet browser, getting to facebook and began the process of uploading the pictures; all except the sixth one. She had different plans for that one.

This was the beginnings of the plan, and it was foolproof to her. Everyone had facebook, even a certain grumpy alpha wolf. So he was sure to see those pictures, and if Lydia could spark up even the littlest bit of jealousy inside of Derek, than she was doing her job here. Of course, this was only the beginning. Part one of an evil plan. If Derek and Stiles weren’t together or at least seeing the light before the week was up, she had failed. And even if Derek didn’t see the photos…

She plugged in her phone and moved the sixth photo into its data. She logged out of facebook and put the camera and cords back in her purse. She turned off the computer and winked at Danny. He glanced at her and stood up, following her out of the library.

“Uh, what are you going to do with that pic? Here is me crossing my fingers that you’ll just delete it. I am thoroughly embarrassed enough.”

“Then you shouldn’t have let me take the picture at all,” She grinned into her phone, opening a new picture message to Derek. The alpha didn’t have her number, but she was pretty sure it would take about four seconds for him to put two and two together, “Besides, no one will see it aside from Derek puppy-eyes Hale.”

“So THAT was your big idea, huh?” Danny yawned, “Take some lame pictures at a club, and try to make Derek jealous? Because that is not nearly as devious as usual.”

“Oh no,” She hit send and pocketed her phone, “That’s just part one.”

“And how many parts are there? And how likely am I to lose all of my dignity when this is all over?”

“There’s three parts, plus an emergency stage if I need it.” She touched her hair gently, “And you might have absolutely no dignity left but Stiles will be happy and I’LL be happy so, worth it.”

Danny rolled his eyes, “If you say so.”

“Well, gear up baby. Because Part Two starts tonight.”


	2. Shame is a One Way Street

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny wants to help Lydia as much as he can, maybe because he feels secondhand guilt for Jackson treating her like shit. So if she wants Danny to be all over Stiles, then he was going to. He would help make Derek jealous if it killed him. He owed that to Lydia.

If Danny has his way, he will never, ever tell Lydia what actually happened on Friday. Because yeah, generally he’s a really good person, but some things he does are really shameful. And he feels ashamed enough already knowing he might be developing a tiny hard on for Stiles Stilinski.

Well shit! He wasn’t a total idiot, but he was still a teenage boy, so what did Lydia expect from him? She dresses up the kid in this shirt and- holy god. Danny never knew Stiles had those muscles hidden. And then she puts him into these pants that scream screwable, and Danny has to grit his teeth because well, only a total idiot wouldn’t see exactly how hot Stiles looked. Even Lydia saw it. Of course, Lydia is way too still in love with Jackson to ever start getting her rocks off on Stiles.

And then they were at the club and Lydia says something like ‘Danny, teach Stiles how to grind.’ And god he would rather not, but he doesn’t say no. He never says no. He can’t resist Lydia, and he can’t resist doing something that might make her happy, and in the whole time they have known each other, Danny hasn’t been able to tell her no yet. In fact, he thinks if he was straight, he and Lydia would have a very different relationship. But he’s not straight. He likes boys and dicks, thank you very much. Especially his dick, when it is grinding on Stiles’ ass.

And yeah, so Danny had to pretend he didn’t have half a boner all night. It was all he could do while Stiles and Lydia kept ordering more and more drinks on his tab. Not that he cared about having to pay the money, obviously. He and Jackson didn’t meet through a mutual love of lacrosse. No, they both had rich asshole parents who were always too willing to pay for their kids eventual downfalls, including alcohol. So he just sucked it up and danced with a very drunk Stiles while a very drunk Lydia took pictures.

And yeah, he was a little annoyed with Lydia. So maybe he grinned a little to himself when she starting making out violently with some random chick, and then took off all too quickly to get home with her. Something in the back of his brain said he should have stopped her, but she probably needed a random lesbian hook up, and this was his revenge for being forced into this whole shenanigan.

But he didn’t go straight home. He danced with Stiles, who was surprisingly good at grinding considering he was all arms and long legs. And Danny danced with some other guys and let Stiles dance with other guys, and it was no big deal as long as no one tried anything. At around 2 a.m., though, he headed towards the door through a sea of shirtless hunks with Stiles in tow, who was desperately trying to get the number of one of said shirtless hunks. But Danny was street-smart, he knew that this time was when all the creepy guys came out who were all too willing to slip roofies into your drink. And Danny wanted Stiles to be drunk, not drugged.

So he took Stiles home. He even quietly helped him get upstairs and into bed without waking up the Sherriff. But then, as he turned to leave, he saw Stiles basically crying to reach into the front of his pants and moan very loudly, and that got his attention. And Danny had his hand over Stiles’ stupid big mouth hissing at him to shut up or he’d wake up his dad.

And then, because Danny has a big heart and makes a lot of mistakes, he was on his knees shutting up Stiles the best way he knew how. It wasn’t bad, kind of interesting. He had this nagging feeling that it was a HUGE mistake, which was just worsened when Stiles groaned out ‘Derek’ as he came.

And Danny wanted to laugh at that. He felt kind of pleased to know Lydia had been totally right, all the way home and laying in bed. It was only when Lydias call woke him the next morning that he felt the extreme shame that is coupled with dropping your dignity so low as to blow someone who liked someone else, and also the shame of letting poor Lydia get taken home by a stranger. LUCKILY nothing bad happened to her. He would have to control the evil Danny inside of him and be more careful, seriously.

But whatever, Lydia didn’t even have the right to be mad at him. He was just giving into his more hormonal instincts, and it was her fault he was in the predicament to begin with. But how could he say no to that face? Besides, she was totally right, if Stiles shouting out Dereks name in the throes of an orgasm was any indicator.

Danny didn’t actually… know Derek. As far as he knew, he had never met Derek or anything. But from what he had heard about him (and he had heard a lot) Derek was a huge piece of man meat which didn’t really agree with what Danny thought Stiles would like in a person. He knew Derek was older, and Danny would be concerned about the fact he wasted his time hanging out with a group of teenagers if he also hadn’t HEARD the way everyone talked about him. They all seemed to really respect the dude. Even Jackson, who didn’t really respect anybody. Sure, they all agreed Derek was a total prick (which actually DID fit with what Danny knew about Stiles‘ type: assholes. i.e: Lydia) but they respected the dude.

And yeah, Danny really wanted Stiles to be happy and for Stiles to be with Derek. But how was he supposed to focus on Stiles’ happiness when he was still trying to get everyone else to be happy, too?

Which was just another problem; Lydia and Jackson. It was practically painful to watch Lydia get all high and mighty and act like she was fine when she so obviously wasn’t. Jackson had harmed her, and she was way too proud to admit to that, but she was still hurting and pining for him. And little did she know, Jackson was just as bad if not WORSE.

Yeah, okay. Danny didn’t really know what was going on with everyone. He didn’t know why everyone talked about secret little meet ups and hung out with an older guy who acted like their leader and randomly vanished and wouldn’t tell him a god damn thing. But he knew that he didn’t need to know (especially if it was a gang thing, which made sense), he just wanted everyone to be happy. And he knew Jackson had sucked up his asshole pride and dumped Lydia to protect her for whatever reason, and now Jackson was a mopey mess because he missed her. No, because he really, really loved that strawberry blonde girl.

So yeah, maybe he was helping Lydia in her mighty quest to get Stiles and Derek together, but he had a secret agenda too. Make Lydia realize she wasn’t over Jackson. And equally, make Jackson realize he needed Lydia back. Because they were too damn stubborn to figure it out on their own.

*

Danny sat behind Stiles in chemistry, who was reading that same old book from his locker again. Danny tried to sneak a peek at the cover when he walked it, but it just had some old looking runes on it. God, his friends were so weird. He tapped his foot and considered Part Two of Lydias stupid plan and wondered exactly how to even initiate this.

“Hey,” He finally gathered up the courage to hiss, “What are you doing tonight?”

Stiles made a nodding noise but kept his head buried in the book. After an excruciatingly long minute of Danny wondering if he had heard him at all, Stiles finally looked up and turned to meet his eyes, “Uh, I have a pa- um, a group thing later but it’s at eight.”

“Like a meeting?” Stiles looked so reluctant to nod his head that Danny considered lighting him on fire. He really hated being out of the loop. “Beforehand Lydia and I want to take you out to dinner. To make up for not getting you laid on Friday.”

Stiles laughed quietly, “Dude, its fine. I had fun!”

“Come on, let us.” Danny tried to force out a charming smile like Lydia had down, but it probably came off a little creepy.

Stiles looked thoughtful, “Okay, but question. Why are you guys being so nice to me?”

Danny considered that. It’s not like he wanted to lie to Stiles with something totally sappy and lame, but he didn’t want to tell him that they were trying to hook him up with Derek either. Because that was kind of creepy. “We’re just trying to be your friends. I mean, you look a little lonely lately. Scott has Allison and I know he probably leaves you alone a lot. You’re single, and I’m single, and Lydia is single, so we just… wanted to spend some time together. Be friends. You know.”

And honestly that was the truth. Maybe just in a roundabout way.

Stiles looked a little shocked, and then reflecting, and then he smiled. And it wasn’t like his usual dorky grin that looked prepared to shoot out a retort, it was a real smile like he was grateful.

“Thank you. Really.”

Danny smiled back, sincere this time. He hoped Stiles would be okay, in the end. I mean yeah, he was sarcastic and hilarious but there was more to him. Maybe some layers he didn’t want to be seen, some weaknesses. Danny wanted to give him some comfort.

“Anyway,” Danny said, coming out of the really corny look they were sharing, “We’ll pick you up at six.”

*

“Are you okay?” Lydia nudged him when Danny parked his car in front of Stiles’ house. He furrowed his eyebrows.

“Uh, yeah. Tell me how this is supposed to work again?” He gripped the steering wheel and looked through the window towards the house.

“You stick next to Stiles. REALLY close. Touch him when you can, as much as you can, as friendly as you can.”

“And, how is that supposed to make Derek jealous? It’s not like he can see us.”

“Because Derek will know. Derek will  _smell it_.” She was grinning like she was a genious.

“That is… highly disturbing.” Danny pulled out his phone and typed in a fast text to Stiles.

**To: Stiles  
From: Danny**

**We’re here. Get outside.**

“Well, I don’t mean like,  _literally_  smell it. It’s kind of complicated but, just trust me.” Lydia rushed out like she had said something she didn’t mean to. Danny side-eyed her.

“Is this under the category of things-no-one-can-tell-Danny? Because really, I get it.”

Lydia looked immensely guilty for a second, looking at her hands which were playing with the flower ring she was wearing. Danny recognized it at the ring Jackson had gotten her for their year anniversary. It was metal and intricate and huh, Danny didn’t know she still had it. Suddenly she was speaking in something like a whisper, “If it were up to me, I’d tell you everything.”

“So why don’t you?” He pleaded. He wasn’t angry, no, not at her. He was a little… frustrated. Because this obviously wasn’t like, a secret party or some little secret. It was huge, and Lydia was involved and Jackson was involved and Scott and Stiles were involved, which meant Derek and Allison were involved. And Danny was… well, Danny was Danny.

“Because, it’s not up to me!” She snapped. They both turned to see Stiles coming out of his house and bounding up to their car.

“Look, it’s fine,” Danny said quickly, “I trust you, okay?”

She didn’t have time to reply before Stiles was hopping in the back. He was wearing a baggy grey shirt and a black-and-violet plaid shirt hanging off of his body, but he was also wearing the purple pants from Friday. Danny raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with Lydia, who was suddenly smiling like everything was falling into place.

“Oh, he’ll like that.” She said quietly. Danny smiled and started pulling out of the driveway.

“Definitely.”

“What?” Stiles blinked at them from the backseat and they both spoke in unison.

“Nothing.”

*

Lydia made up something about how she needed to rest her feet which is why she took up the whole opposite side of the booth they inhabited. Danny smirked at the fact she picked the smallest possible booth, the one that was handicap capable, so that Danny and Stiles were pressed side by side the entire time.

Lydia didn’t ask what they wanted, just ordered the biggest hamburgers and fries and milkshakes on the menu. She rested her purse and gleamed at them with happy eyes and a white smile.

“You guys are going to love this place. I discovered it a few months ago with Allison,” She gushed, “Best burgers ever. I occasional throw my diet out the window for this place, it’s so good. And it’s on me.”

Stiles fist pumped, pressing more into Dannys side, “Yes! I never turn down free food. New friends are awesome.”

Lydia rolled her eyes, “Stiles, we have always been your friends.”

“Yeah,” He said, “But REAL friends buy you dinner and take you clubbing. And now we are all real friends.”

Danny nudged Stiles, “You know what real friends do? Tell each other who they like.”

“What is this, middle school?”

“Yeah Stiles,” Lydia smirked, “Who is the current catcher of your affectionate heart, hmm?”

Stiles laughed nervously and looked away, “You’re… going to need to take me to dinner at least two more times before that sort of incriminating information makes an appearance.”

“We can get you drunk again if that will help,” Danny said, resting his head on Stiles’ like he was begging, earning him an approving look from Lydia.

“Nooo. That helps nothing, especially not my dignity.” He shot the strawberry blonde a dirty look, “And yes, I saw those photos. Facebook, really?”

“Whats the point in getting shit faced if everyone can’t see the shame?” She said innocently.

“Officially ashamed,” Stiles threw up his hands like he was giving up, “Just never, ever getting drunk in front of you again.”

“I can still take pictures though, right? Because you two look adorbs right now, and I need a pic.”

Stiles laughed and Danny rolled his eyes. She was pretty obvious with her silly little plan, but Stiles was completely oblivious so it was no big deal. Lydia took out her phone and Danny leaned a little closer to Stiles, both of them smiling and she snapped the picture. Stiles ignored the fact Lydia obviously immediately opened a text and sent the picture, because the lady had arrived with their very delicious looking food.

When Stiles settled down to eating, Lydia’s phone had vanished back into her purse and she was turning towards the table to reach for her own food.

“What about you guys?” Stiles said after he finished his first bite, reaching for his fries, “Who do you like?”

“No one.” Lydia said simply before taking a bite. Danny was amazed that someone could look so elegant eating messy food. He hated her for that sometimes.

“Total lie,” Danny said quickly. She looked at him with a look like she was ripping his face off in her head. Danny turned to reach for a napkin, careful to ‘accidentally’ brush Stiles’ hand.

“Mmmm,” Stiles raised a brow, glancing between them, “So the rumors are true.”

“What rumors?” Lydia barked a little too meanly.

“That you’re still pining hard after Jackson? Not really a rumor, just kind of obvious.” Her eyes looked totally panicked, so Danny touched her leg gently with his under the table in comfort. It just got him another mean stare though. “Don’t be mad!” Stiles said quickly, “I’m just really observant. Besides, it’s obvious that he’s totally pining after you too.”

Lydia’s eyes got a little smaller and she turned to sip her milkshake, “No, he’s not.”

“He totally is! You should see him get all mopey when me and Scott bring you up. Come on, Danny? You’ve noticed, right?”

Danny considered this. He loved Lydia dearly, but giving away his best friends weakest weak spot seemed a little low. Though really, he guessed it couldn’t help any situation to pretend he hadn’t noticed.

“Yeah,” Danny said after a minute, “I mean, he’s pretty butthurt. It’s not like he’s totally unphased by this whole thing. He’s hurting.”

“He has literally no right to be hurting,” Lydia growled over a handful of burger, “HE broke up with ME.”

“Yeah, but I mean actual pining,” Stiles said, “Not just a casual hurting. Everyone hurts after a breakup. Jackson does this thing where he watches Lydia and then acts like he wasn’t. He also gets MAD jealous when she’s talking to Derek. I think it’s a total pride thing.”

“He gets jealous… of Derek?” Danny said, raising an eyebrow and trying to exchange looks with Lydia, but she was looking at the table with a purely miserable expression on her face.

“Yeah. I mean,” Stiles frowned and got visibly stiff, “It’s not like LYDIA and DEREK have anything, so it’s not justified. Right?”

“Of course not. Derek? Ew.” Lydia snapped at them, “Look, can we stop talking about Jackson? He’s a total douche and I don’t want this conversation to even continue.”

Stiles looked shocked like she had physically hit him. Danny nudged him, trying to communicate that it was okay, but the damage was done. Stiles had seen a part of Lydia that not many people liked; the part where she was hurting. Her calmest facial mask was back on now, though, and she kept eating. They all kept eating in an endlessly uncomfortable silence.

*

Danny dropped Lydia and Stiles off in front of an old, very abandoned looking warehouse and tried not to completely judge them for their choice of places to have secret meetings. It didn’t get any more dirty and secretive than a warehouse.

When they vanished inside, Danny pulled out his phone and sent Jackson a text. Yeah, he wasn’t an idiot. He knew Jackson was probably inside the warehouse too. But he might need something from his best friend.

**To: Jackson  
From: Danny**

**We need to talk. School tomorrow.**

*

He was laying in bed not sleeping, not even sure what he was doing with his life when his phone rang.

“Hello?” He said, sitting up and glancing at the clock. Nine.

“Danny?” It was Stiles, but Danny had to check his caller ID because it didn’t sound like Stiles. It sounded… scared? Hurting.

“Uh, hey. Are you okay?”

“I’m outside your house.” And then he hung up. Danny groaned out loud and half wondered how Stiles even knew where his house was well enough to come here. He grabbed the green shirt he had tossed aside earlier and pulled it back on while he trudged down the stairs and towards the doors. And then another thought hit him. Why was Stiles at Dannys house this late at night? What could have possibly happened at their meeting, especially if Dannys rubbing had triggered some sort of mass jealousy in Derek? Visions of sexual harassment and violence filled Dannys head, and red eyes, for some reason. He hurried out the door.

Stiles was standing in front of his house looking awkward, rubbing his upper arm in a way that either signified he was uncomfortable or his arm hurt for some reason. And once again Danny was having visions of brutal violence coupled with the huge person he was assuming Derek was. But he didn’t know.

“Hey. Sorry to randomly show up.” Stiles said. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes and that looked very, very wrong on Stiles’ face.

“It’s fine, we’re friends.” Danny said it like a reassurance to both of them.

“Uh, can we talk?” Stiles looked like he needed it. Danny looked back at his house, thinking he should at least tell his parents if he leaves but… Oh well.

“Yeah. There’s a park on the end of the block. Want to walk there and talk?”

Stiles just nodded. Danny pushed his hands into his jean pockets and started briskly walking down the street with Stiles just a few feet behind him. He was glad that it was nearing summer, and wasn’t so cold that Danny needed a jacket. He could hear Stiles sighing into the open night air. The moon shone over them tonight, almost half full.

They reached the park and Danny jogged over to the swings, taking a seat on one. Stiles walked up and grabbed the chains, settling down on the plastic seat. He glanced up at the moon.

“How long until the next full one, do you think?” Stiles asked. Danny looked at it.

“Maybe a week or so. I don’t know.”

“Yeah,” Stiles rubbed his eyes, “Once again, I’m really sorry to just show up on your doorstep.”

“I told you its fine, dumbass,” Danny smiled at him fondly, “What did you need to talk about?”

Stiles moved a bit on the swing, back and forth, and kept staring at the moon. Finally, he spoke, “How did you know you were gay?”

“Well, the liking dick was a pretty good indicator.” Danny mused. Stiles let out a legit giggle. For gods sake, sometimes this kid was just ridiculous amounts of adorable.

“Danny! Seriously,” Stiles laughed.

Danny shrugged, feeling watchful brown eyes on him, “I mean, I always kind of had a feeling. But then I actually fell in LOVE with a guy. And after that it all came crashing in around me, I guess. And I mean yeah, he was straight as hell, but I fell hard. After that was just… accepting myself. And the rest just kind of fell into place, in a weird way.”

He glanced over at Stiles, who had big eyes. He looked like a little kid when you explained Santa Clause to them for the first time. But he was nodding, so Danny assumed he wasn’t totally bewildered.

“So, what does falling in love feel like?”

“Hadn’t you been self-proclaiming yourself head-over-heels in love with Lydia since forever? Shouldn’t you know?” Danny asked. He wasn’t actually curious, he knew the answer and so did Stiles.

“That crush was so… Third grade though,” Stiles kicked the woodchips under his feet, “I mean, I just saw her as a smart person who was also gorgeous and unobtainable. And that’s all she ever was, and she always ignored me. It was a crush. When she finally started to talk to me, I realized how cool she was. But I also realized how much I really DIDN’T love her. I loved the idea of it, I guess.”

Danny nodded, “Well, love is… Harsh. Especially love where that person doesn’t love you back. It’s painful but at the same time, you don’t care. Because right when it starts to go away, there they are again with everything you love. Their eyes and their music taste, or whatever. And it’s really hard. You want them to be happy, but you’re also just dying because you want them to be with you even if they aren’t happy. It’s selfish and selfless at the same time.”

“Sounds fucking horrible,” Stiles groaned.

“It is! But then there’s the love where they do love you back,” Danny sighed and leaned his head against one of the chains, “And that is… so different. You feel like it is bursting out of you. Oozing from your eyes and your skin, you can’t keep it in and neither can they. And it explodes all over the place and all over your friends and it’s gross. Case in point; Allison and Scott. And then there are some times when you can’t get it out. You have all these words and no way to say them. That love is great because you don’t have to say anything. Everything you have to say is… Well, it’s known. They feel it too. And eventually all the REALLY heavy feelings go away, the passion. And then you’re left with this like… content feeling. That you have them if things are bad or good. Even if you’re fighting and throwing stuff at each other, it’s fine. Because in real love, it’s always better. They love you when you look like shit or you feel like shit. It’s love, man. It’s unrequited.”

Stiles had been staring at the moon since Danny started talking. The only reason Danny knew Stiles was even listening was because he had this really glazed over look that was something torn between realization and sadness. And it was a really bad look for Stiles, it really was.

“Are you in love, Stiles?” Danny asked quietly after a few minutes of silence. Stiles twitched and finally looked at him.

“I don’t know. It’s all a little messy right now. I have feelings for him, though.”

That little  _him_  pulled at Dannys heart and made him smile. Stiles was a cute little asshole. He was funny and charming and god damn, anyone who didn’t see that was really missing out. Danny wished he was on the receiving end of those affections, or any affection really. In a way, he loved Stiles, or at least he was growing to, albeit platonically. And Danny suddenly really, really just wanted Stiles to be happy. And then he understood why Lydia was going this.

Because they were done. Danny was lonely, Lydia was alone. And Stiles… Stiles had some hope. He was the perfect person to love. He hadn’t had his heart broken before. He was a virgin in every sense of the word, and innocent, and he was full of loyalty and passion and all things good. And they needed Stiles to go forward and hunt that happiness down.

Danny only realized he had been staring fondly at Stiles when Stiles finally coughed, “It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t like me back. And he’s a total asshole, always yelling. I’d wager that he totally hates me, honestly.”

“I’d wager that he totally doesn’t,” Danny stood up, “Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. Some people yell when they really want to hold you, some people ignore you when they want to kiss you. It’s because they are guarded.”

“He ignored me all night tonight. And when he looked at me, he looked totally pissed.” Stiles said, exasperated. Danny was glad he was looking away because he was grinning like an idiot. Holy shit, Lydia was really onto something with this jealousy thing.

“You don’t know if he doesn’t like you, not yet. But we’re going to find out.” Danny said, “I promise you. Me and Lydia will help in every way we can.” He left out the part where they were already doing exactly that.

“Okay,” Stiles nodded, “I trust you.”

“If you think you love this guy, you have to try. There is no ignore-it-until-it-goes-away, there is only try. And try harder. So you’re going to try. Because Stiles, giving up? So NOT in your vocabulary,” Danny nudged him as he got off the swing, “You’re the strongest guy I know.”

Stiles was finally smiling normally again, “Thanks dude. You’re a really good friend.”

“Obviously.”

They started walking back towards the house, the mood significantly lighter. Stiles was looking at him weirdly for a minute before he spoke.

“Uh, I have another question. It’s kind of personal.”

Danny rolled his eyes, “For the love of God Stiles, stop asking if I find you attractive.”

Stiles snorted, “Sooo not that.”

“Fine. What?”

“Who was the first guy you fell in love with? The straight one, I mean.”

Danny smirked and rolled his eyes, “Jackson, obviously.”

*

Tuesday at lunch, Danny practically hunted Jackson down at his locker and slammed the metal door shut.

“Dude, what the hell!” Jackson shouted at the loud metal bang. His hands flew out like he was defending himself.

“Look,” Danny practically hissed, “Admittedly, I don’t know anything. I don’t know why you all have your stupid gang meetings or whatever at some secret warehouse. I don’t know why you all suddenly got all weird, ditching out on everything and not telling me anything. I admit that I don’t KNOW anything about any of it. But I know YOU. And you are a total jackass. I know you think you’re doing everyone a favor, but you’re not. Not by hiding away and being rude. Not by pretending you aren’t completely in love with Lydia still, and not by hurting her. So just… stop. Stop being a total asshat. I am done with it.”

Jacksons mouth was hanging open and Danny felt a little breathless and adrenaline-pumped when he finally closed his mouth. Jackson was starting to process what had happened, and a look of shock and hurt was spreading over that stupid face. So Danny spun around and walked away. He wasn’t sure how long that little outburst had been building up, but it was probably long overdue. He really didn’t care. He pulled out his phone to find a text waiting for him there.

**To: Danny  
From: Lydia**

**Part 2 was a huge success! You should have seen the look on Dereks face. Like someone kicked him in the balls. I’ll work on Part 3 now. All I need from you currently is to keep Stiles entertained, and stay AROUND him.**

Danny smiled. Okay, things were definitely falling into place. If anyone could do this, it was Lydia. She was going to be happy, and Stiles was going to be happy and they were going to figure this out. And god damn it, if it killed him, he was going to get Jackson to stop being such a dick and see the light of things.

Everything had to work itself out. Right?


	3. I Heard it through the Wolfbane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott might be a dumbass sometimes but he’s not actually blind. And he can’t ignore how close Danny and Stiles are lately. It feels like everyone knows something he doesn’t. But he’s going to get to the bottom of this. Because Stiles is his best friend.

Despite all popular opinion, Scott wasn’t actually stupid.

Yeah okay, he wasn’t exactly the best in school. When he wasn’t failing he was usually pushing the “barely passing” mark. But he blamed that purely on increase in distractions instead of any actual lack of intelligence. School was really hard as a werewolf, okay? There was full moons and stopping horrible monsters from killing people. Plus he was in a relationship. School was the last thing on his mind.

Anyway, the point is, he’s not a total dumbass. He noticed things, especially when it came to his friends. He noticed the slight way Jacksons eyes followed Lydia across the room. He noticed the way Allison jerked away when Derek came too close to her. He noticed the way Derek submitted under Stiles. He noticed it all. And if he thought he could help, he usually tried to. But sometimes it was better to ignore it.

Lately he was noticing something very different, though. Something that was harder for him to just ignore.

He first saw Lydia and Danny talking to Stiles at his locker. He had frowned, wondering what the hell those two had for Stiles, and also knowing it couldn’t be good. He had resisted the urge to turn on his ultra-wolf-hearing, though, because it wasn’t any of his business. So he pushed the thought away and returned on his way to class.

It was on facebook Monday night that he saw the particularly questionable photos of Stiles and Danny and Lydia at what looked suspiciously like a gay club. He had gritted his teeth and pointed them out to Allison, who just laughed and said “good for them”. Then she told him not to worry about it, that it was probably nothing.

Scott couldn’t really help feeling a little bit annoyed about the whole situation. Since the werewolf stuff started happening, his friendship with Stiles had sort of taken a backseat to everything else. Pack and Derek and Allison and his mom and everything. He hadn’t really meant for it to happen, but he didn’t really know how it could have NOT happened. And Stiles seemed really understanding. Obviously he was, because Stiles was Scotts best friend.

They had been best friends since they were twelve year olds in detention for both being total nuisances. In reality, they both just lashed out quite a lot. Stiles mom died when he was eleven, and Scotts dad took off when he was eight. They were two kids with one parent who didn’t understand why bad things happened to good people. And they found each other.

So okay, maybe Scott was a little bit jealous. Jealous to see Stiles looking so ridiculously happy, and it was NEVER when he was around Scott. Stiles tolerated Scott lately, but he wasn’t really happy. Not how he might have been happy being around Lydia or Danny or Derek or his dad. Scott was no longer the person making Stiles grin like an idiot with little small things like he used to. He and Stiles no longer ordered a pizza on Friday and played video games until dawn. They barely even talked much unless it was about werewolf stuff. So at the pack meeting Tuesday night, these thoughts were twirling in his mind as he wrapped an arm around Allison. He had decided to talk to Stiles, just to ask him how he was doing. And that is when Stiles walked in.

The first thing that struck him was Stiles stupid grin, and the fact he walked in with Lydia like they had come here together. Jealousy bubbled in his stomach at the fact someone was being friends with his best friend-

And then he smelled it. Wafting off of Stiles like a really bad cologne. The smell of overwhelming… Danny? Definitely Danny. Scott knew what Danny smelled like; Armani and grass stains and oil because he liked to fix cars. It was all of that, mixed with Stiles natural scent of trees and the shitty fake leather from his jeep seats. And Scott had to try hard not to scrunch up his nose in disgust. There was something really unnerving about Stiles smelling so much like someone OUTSIDE of the pack.

Allison felt him tense up and was giving him a questioning look. He glanced around the room as Stiles sat down with Lydia and tried to judge their reactions. Everyone obviously smelled it, at least everyone with heightened senses. Isaac, Erica, and Boyd just exchanged looks and snorted, turning away. Jackson looked critically at Stiles, obviously also recognizing the scent. And then Jacksons phone must have beeped, because he was pulling it out and frowning deeply, distracted.

Possibly the only thing weirder than the way Stiles smelled and the way it was obviously putting Jackson and Scott off was the way Derek reacted when he walked in. He stopped dead in his tracks at some point, sniffed the air, and his eyes flashed a dangerous red. While he talked, he kept shooting glares at Stiles, and when Stiles piped up with his opinion on something, Derek would completely ignore that he had talked at all. Stiles looked so depressed by the end of the meeting when Derek stalked away, that Scott actually felt really bad.

But they all separated and went their separate ways. Scott considered going to talk to Stiles, but the kid looked miserable and hurting, and Scott wasn’t really prepared for that sort of outburst. He considered going to ask Derek if he was okay, and then nearly burst out laughing at the thought. No one talked to Derek like they cared unless they wanted their faces ripped off. No one except, of course, Stiles.

So Scott didn’t say anything, but pushed it into a file of things he really needed to figure out.

*

After school on Wednesday, Scott was sitting in the grass with Allison in silence. He was trying to find the words to tell her what he was feeling, when Lydia came over and dropped to the ground next to them. He tried hard not to glare at her.

“Are you guys going to the dance on Saturday?” She prompted. Scott raised an eyebrow. The school had its major dances; homecoming, prom, winter formal. But they also had their more casual dances. This one was in celebration of summer coming, and it was beach themed. Tiki torches and water and it was outdoors. He remembered listening to Stiles moan about how they should go because there would be girls in bikinis and short shorts. But he hadn’t given it much thought.

“Um,” Allison exchanged a look with him, “We haven’t talked about it, really. Why?”

“You guys should go. It’ll be fun.” She picked at the grass and smiled like she knew something that they didn’t.

“Are YOU going?” Scott asked. He didn’t care, but he figured that’s what she wanted them to ask.

“Inevitably. Don’t have a date yet, but that can be fixed. Stiles is going.”

“With who?” Allison and Scott said at the same time. He smiled a little at that.

“Danny,” She said simply, “Well, probably. Danny hasn’t asked yet. He’s kind of shy.”

Scott stiffened, “Stiles isn’t into guys.”

Lydia actually laughed, and, so did Allison. He shot her a surprised look and she shut her mouth. He looked hopelessly between them and felt like he was missing a joke.

“Uh, Stiles is definitely into guys. Are you blind?” Lydia snorted. Scott narrowed his eyes.

Allison was nodding, “Yeah, Scott. I mean it’s no big deal that he is, but you can’t deny it, I guess.”

Scott twisted up his face, “But he never told me.”

“I think he’s still figuring it out, to be honest.” Lydia said like she was bored.

“Those things are confusing, I think,” Allison shrugged, “ I just honestly didn’t think it would be DANNY but…” Her voice trailed off. Scott looked at her questioningly and Lydia looked a bit panicked.

“Who did you think it would be?” Scott asked, feeling seriously like he was the only one who knew nothing about this whole situation.

“Derek?” Allison said like it was obvious, and Scotts stomach twisted a bit inside of him.

“What?”

“I mean, you’ve seen the way they interact, right? There’s a lot of feelings there. A lot of unresolved things.” She looked down at her feet, “I mean, I hate Derek, I do. But he treats Stiles like… I don’t know. It’s just something I can’t really deny exists.”

Scott considered that. He guessed he had noticed the relationship between Stiles and Derek but didn’t think it could be more. He had noticed Derek lightly bumping Stiles when he looked unsure of anything. He had noticed Stiles grabbing Dereks hands and standing between him and something he really didn’t want to do. Not really. Scott had seen the way Stiles stood up to Derek, and the way Derek made Stiles look like he was going to cry when he was particularly nasty.

“Oh. Oh!” Scott said in realization. Holy shit.

Allison laughed and reached out, touching his hand. Okay, he hadn’t exactly had things the most complicated when it came to love. But by now, he thinks he should know what it looks like when two people love each other. And yeah, he totally saw that now.

“Um, that’s…” Lydia looked totally scandalized, like someone had found out a secret she was trying to keep hidden. Then her eyes calmed down a bit and she pulled out her stupid smile that Scott hated, “That’s not the point. The point is, Stiles has Danny now.”

“And Stiles likes Danny?” Allison asked.

“Not yet. But he will, I am sure,” Lydia stood up and winked at them, “It’s not like Dereks going to do anything about it.”

As she walked away, with her red-blonde hair bouncing, Scott turned to Allison and took her hands.

“We can’t let that happen.”

“Huh?” Allison looked at him with concerned eyes.

“We can’t let Danny… seduce Stiles or whatever. Not if Derek loves him. Not if he loves Derek.”

“It’s not really any of our business…” Allison said, but she didn’t sound convincing at all, mostly amused.

“No, Allison!” Scott gripped her, “I have been putting Stiles’ needs behind everyone elses for months. If this makes him happy, we have to do our best to help this happen. I have to do this.”

Allison rolled her eyes, “You’re so sentimental sometimes. But, fine. What are you going to do?”

Scotts stomach fluttered, “Uh, talk to Derek. I think.”

*

Actually talking to Derek wasn’t as good of a plan as Scott thought it would be. Because seriously, he was a prick, but Derek scared the shit out of pretty much everyone. Scott included. Especially since this was something personal, and Derek was so likely to kill Scott for trying.

But Scott kept feeding images of his best friend, and pushed forward. He could do this for Stiles. He could solve this for him.

Scotts plan was to drive home and drop off his lacrosse and school stuff before heading out to find Derek. To his amazement, Derek was already there, standing in his room like it wasn’t breaking and entering or anything. Scott glared at him and dropped his stuff on his bed, coming to stand next to him. Dereks eyes were on the cork board of photos that Scott kept over his desk. They were an assortment of pictures, mostly of Scott and Allison, or Scott as a kid with his dad, or pictures of his mom.

There was a bunch of Stiles, too, obviously. Most were of Stiles and Scott when they were younger, doing stupid shit like fighting with toy lightsabers or hanging out at the Beacon Hills Summer Fair. Dereks eyes were locked on one of Stiles before Scott knew him, of Stiles and his mom. Scott had always wished he had met her, but that was life and death, he guessed.

“What are you doing in my room?” Scott finally asked. Derek didn’t react, just kept looking at the pictures. Finally he opened his mouth.

“Just seeing how my favorite Beta is doing.”

Scott narrowed his eyes and wondered if that was either sarcasm or the worst excuse ever.

“Oh, okay. So it’s not you showing up to question me about Stiles?” Scott said. It was a total guess but the way Dereks face sort of deflated made him want to fist pump.

“No.”

“Sure. Because you always get as pissed as you were last night when any of us smell like some other guy.”

“Shut up, Scott.” Derek growled. It was all very puppy-dog-primal.

“You can’t fool me,” Scott grinned, turning around to fall onto sitting position on his bed, “You may afraid of your feelings, but I am not.”

Derek turned and scowled at him. Scott tried not to smell afraid because damn, he wasn’t, right? He had found some sort of weakness in Derek and that just made him adorable. Like a freaking wolf pup.

“I just wanted to know if you know why he smelled like that yesterday.” Derek didn’t bother saying ‘why he smelled like someone else’, since it had been pretty obvious. It’s not like Scott would have missed it if he tried.

“Well, he’s been spending a lot of time with Danny, so he smelled like him.”

“Danny…?” Derek looked genuinely confused. Scott rolled his eyes. It was a lot to expect Derek to remember the names of humans who didn’t matter to the pack.

“The gay guy? He’s the goalie of the lacrosse team and he’s Jacksons best friend.” Scott said. But Derek looked like he stopped listening after ‘gay kid’.

“Oh,” Derek said, masking the worry on his face with an unusual uncaring face, “Well, good for Stiles I guess.”

“For the love of fuck,” Scott groaned, rubbing his eyes, “Just tell him how you feel if you’re that concerned.”

“I don’t feel anything.” Derek said, walking past Scotts bed and heading for the window.

“Dude, stop.” Scott said. He wasn’t expecting it, but Derek actually did stop at the window.

Scott took a deep breath, “I think I knew I would love Allison the moment I laid eyes on her. She was different and I could tell and it was simple.”

He expected Derek to just roll his eyes and take off. Instead, the alpha leaned against the windowsill and stood still. Scott suspected that was Dereks way of telling him to go on, so he took a deep breath and continued.

“I had to have her. I felt like if I didn’t at least try, I was going to explode. Even when the wolf was taking over, and I wasn’t sure I could control myself. I thought I might destroy her. But I had to try, I had to do all I could for her. There was times when I thought she would be taken from me by someone else. Like Jackson or Matt or anyone else. And it was tearing me apart. I had to try, you know? Even if after all my efforts, I failed. I had to try.”

He hoped his point had gotten across. He hoped Derek understood what he meant. Derek heaved out a breath and started climbing out the window.

“Thanks, Scott.” He said as he dropped out of sight.

*

Scott showed up at Stiles’ house that night. He knocked hopefully on the door after about fifteen minutes of debating just climbing through the window. He realized that he needed to stop with that creepy shit. Stiles’ dad answered it, looking a little worn out. But he grinned when he saw Scott there.

“Why hello! It’s been a while since you’ve been here.” He said. Scott felt the guilt pull at his stomach. He really hadn’t been here in a long time.

“Hey Mr. Stilinski. Is Stiles here?” Scott sidestepped into the house before getting an answer. The place always looked a little dirty- not gross, just like people lived there. People too busy to clean. Well, Sherriff Stilinski was too busy to clean. Stiles was too lazy to.

“Yeah, he literally just got home. Kitchen,” The Sherriff said, closing the door. Scott hopped across the hall he was all-too familiar with. He clacked his feet through the kitchen and saw Stiles digging through the fridge. He had the bag of bread hanging from his mouth and a jar of mayonnaise under his arm. Scott rolled his eyes and walked over, taking both of them from his friend and setting them on the counter. Stiles blinked at him and offered up a grin, which Scott gladly returned. But Stiles smelled… lousy with Danny. Again. That must have been where he was.

“Hey dude,” Stiles said, digging more, “Want a sandwich?”

“Nah,” Scott replied.

“Are you sure? I have bologna.” Stiled waved the meat in his face and closed the fridge.

Scott made a face, “Ew, I hate bologna.”

“I know. But your face is priceless when I mention it.”

Scott laughed and watched Stiles start making a sandwich, “So I came over to talk.”

“And not to bask in my good looks and charm?” Stiles remarked sarcastically, “I would never have known.”

Scott smiled and waited. He used his wolf hearing and listened to Stiles’ dad vanish up the stairs. “I think we should discuss how you smelled yesterday. And how you smell now.”

“Smell? That’s rude. Maybe I’ve been using a new shampoo, okay?” Stiles pulled up his sandwich and took a huge bite, turning to look at Scott.

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

Stiles sighed, “Yeah. Wolf senses, I know. So how do I smell?”

“You smell like Danny.”

“Danny…” Stiles nodded slowly and pushed his lip forward, “Maybe because I’ve been hanging out with Danny? Okay, discussion over.”

“Dude, no. You never smell like me this much.”

Stiles took another huge bite and chewed carefully. “Are you sure you just can’t smell yourself?”

“Stiles,” Scott huffed out. Stiles stopped bouncing around and stopped, looking at him, “You’ve been TOUCHING Danny a lot. It’s scenting.”

Stiles didn’t say anything. He kept eating and looked a little guilty. Finally, just as Scott was getting impatient, he spoke up; “We’re just friends, okay?”

“Does he know that?”

“Yes!” Stiles half-shouted, “Dude, yes. We’re just friends and he’s helping me and he’s a good guy.”

Scott threw up his arms, “I’m not denying he’s a good dude. I’m just saying, if you’re this close to him, then maybe it was more. And if it is, that’s fine.”

“But it’s not. I swear.” Stiles sighed, “Like really, he knows who I DO like and everything.” And then his face got this horrified look like he had said way too much.

Scott raised his eyebrows, “Um. And who DO you like?”

“Uh,” Stiles couldn’t say anything else before his phone was ringing in his pocket. He set down the remains of his sandwich and retrieved it. He pulled it out and answered it, “Hello?”

Scott ignored his better judgment and honed in to hear who was on the other side.

“Stiles!” It was Danny. Jesus Christ, “Hey dude, I have a question.”

“Okay,” Stiles said. Scott was glaring at him and Stiles obviously knew he could hear, “Ask away.”

“Lydia wants us at the dance on Saturday. Want to come? As my date of course,” Scott could practically hear Dannys sugary sweet smile, “I won’t cop a feel, I swear.”

Stiles laughed nervously and Scott saw his cheeks glow bright red, “Ha, uh, okay. That’ll be fine I guess.”

“Alright. It’s beach attire! I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Gotcha,” Stiles croaked and the line went dead. He pulled his phone away and stared at Scott.

Scott stared back, “Seems innocent.”

“Shut up, okay?” Stiles looked away the way he did when he was embarrassed. He shoved his phone into his pocket and grabbed the final half of his sandwich and shoved it in the trash. Scott sighed.

“Look, I trust you if you say it’s nothing. But don’t lead him on.”

“I’m not,” Stiles trudged into the living room and Scott followed him out, “We’re just friends.”

“I get it,” Scott sat on the couch and Stiles stood up. He did that sometimes, when he was too restless to sit down, “So, who do you like?”

“None of your business.” He said. Scott almost laughed. He looked up with his best perfected puppy-dog eyes and Stiles immediately looked less angry.

“Really? I tell you the intimate details of my relationship with Allison-”

“God don’t remind me.”

“-and you won’t tell me who you’re crushing on?”

Stiles looked hesitant. He kept clenching and unclenching his hands, opening his mouth just to close it again. Finally he ran his hand over his hair and sighed.

“Derek.”

Scott just smiled, “Knew it.”

“What? You… knew it?” Stiles looked totally shocked and confused.

“Yeah,” Scott stood up, “I mean, I may be stupid but I’m not blind.”

Stiles stared at him and then a huge smile spread over his face, “You’re not as stupid as you look.”

*

“Are you okay?” Allison poked him with a pencil as class began. He looked up and blinked at her.

“Yeah. Hey, do you want to go to the dance on Saturday?”

She sighed, “I don’t care, Scott. We can do whatever you want to do.”

“No, I mean,” He rolled his eyes, “This is me asking you to the dance. To go to the dance, with me.”

“Oh!” Her face got red, “Oh… Scott, I’d love to.”

He smiled, “Okay. We can do that.”

Lydia slid into the seat in front of Allison and glanced back at them. He nudged her with his foot until she turned on them.

“What?” She sighed dramatically.

“Derek showed up at my house. He was totally jealous of Danny. And Stiles pretty much admitted to liking Derek. If this is a plan, if you have a plan… I mean, now would be the time to initiate.”

A wicked smiled grew over her lips and she turned around, “Please. I have everything under control. Remind me to send little brown-eyed wolves to do my job more often.”

He felt like he was missing something again, “What?”

She snorted. “Nothing.”


	4. The Beatles are NOT Cliche

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek likes Stiles. I mean sure, he finds him obnoxious as all hell but he figured their relationship could go places. So the boiling jealousy he feels when Stiles starts getting a little TOO close to Danny really isn’t good for him. But don’t worry, Lydia has a plan. And Derek is starting to wonder when he started letting these stupid teenagers “help” him…

The first meeting in the woods wasn’t actually Dereks first time meeting Stiles.

Derek was sixteen and his house had just been burned to the ground by Kate Argent. He had been in the hospital all night with Laura waiting to see if their uncle Peter would stabilize at all. Laura had been on the phone making arrangement to move themselves and what they had left of their stuff to New York and live with their fathers side of the family, the ones that weren’t wolves. Derek had been sitting there hating himself. He and Laura had been out that night, she was teaching him how to hunt. And he should have been in that fire, he should have died in it.

A doctor had come out to talk to Derek all of once, to tell him that the burns were severe but they were trying hard to revive Peter. Derek had been dozing off in the chair in the lobby, and it had to be five a.m. There was a couple sitting together on the other side of the room, and a little boy sitting alone near him, with a shaved head, and he couldn’t have been more than ten years old. A nurse with dark curly black hair kept coming out to talk to the little boy in hushed voices before she would leave him alone again. He had big eyes and looked scared.

The little boy started shaking, and Derek stiffened. When the kid pulled into himself and started breathing like he was having some sort of attack, Derek stood up and closed the distance between them. He knelt down and touched the kids knee.

“Are you okay?” He asked. It was a really stupid question. He wouldn’t want anyone asking HIM that question.

The kid looked at him with tears in his eyes, “Yes.” It was so laced with sarcasm Derek actually laughed. His first real laugh since the fire destroyed his life.

“Okay, cool. Just checking.” Derek said with just about as much sarcasm. But he was smiling, and so the little kid started smiling too. Derek sat next to him and they were quiet. He finally looked over at the kid again, “What’s wrong?”

The kid rubbed his eyes, “They say my mom has cancer. I don’t know what that is.”

Dereks stomach dropped. It was hard to not know what cancer was at that point. And know it didn’t usually… Well, end well, “It’s hard to explain.”

“Does it kill people?” The little boy was looking up at him, and Derek suddenly didn’t want to lie.

“Not always, but, usually.”

The kid nodded, but there were the tears again. Derek watched, but they didn’t fall. Derek suddenly saw something really… strong, there. In a ten year old. Derek as a ten year old would be throwing a temper tantrum if someone had told him his mom had cancer. And now his mom was dead. But at least his last memory of her was her grinning and telling him to eat his dinner or she’d beat him up again. She was the alpha, so Derek generally didn’t take her threats lightly. This kid would have to watch his mom slowly deteriorate… And Derek was suddenly a little grateful that at least he didn’t have that.

“I’m Stiles, by the way,” the kid said.

“Who the hell would name their kid Stiles?” Derek asked, since humor was something Stiles obviously responded to. Sure enough, he laughed.

“Well, that’s not my real name. But I don’t like my real name anymore. My mom named me that.”

Derek considered that, and decided he understood. Sometimes you had to banish the things that reminded you and run from them. Maybe his name was that. Like Derek was pretty sure he could never go back to that house…

“I’m Derek.” He said simply, “Tell me about your mom, Stiles.”

And he did. Derek kept smiling to himself because damn, that kid could talk. And it was easier for them both, he thought. Derek listened to Stiles talk about the way his mom used to garden, about the way she would read him the Lord of the Rings books before bed, and about the way she made faces at him while his dad was giving him a serious talk. And Derek listened, and laughed when he was supposed to, and remembered his own mom. The way she used to show him lame werewolf movies and they’d laugh, and the way she yelled at him when really she was just hurt. At some point Stiles was crying happy tears and laughing. Derek felt the anger at himself and at Kate and everything just draining away as he stopped thinking so hard about it. An emptiness crept up inside of him instead, and that was scary. But he watched Stiles slowly come to terms with his mother dying, and Derek thought maybe if a ten year old could do it, Derek could accept his parents deaths one day. By the time Derek saw Laura talking to the doctors, the sun was rising higher into the sky.

She approached them, her black hair and blue eyes looking more tired than anything. She glanced oddly at Stiles for a few seconds before turning to Derek.

“The doctor said Peter is stabile, and we have a plane to New York in two hours. So we should go.”

He nodded and stood up. Stiles looked a little torn at his leaving. Derek smiled down at him as much as he could.

“Thanks,” was all he said before following his sister out of the hospital.

*

Nearly six year later he came back to Beacon Hills when Laura never came home after a trip to visit Peter in the hospital. Derek had told her to stop going back there, to move on with her life, but she couldn’t. Peter was catatonic but he was the last survivor of the fire and she took it upon herself to make sure he was getting the correct care he needed. Derek never planned to go back, not ever. But when Laura didn’t come home he couldn’t help himself.

And finding her dead was the worst thing that could have possibly happened. It didn’t hit him as hard as it could have, though. They had been growing so far apart over the years, mostly because she blamed him for the fire. And he blamed himself. He never realized that the reason Laura kept going back to Beacon hills was because she considered Peter her last family, she didn’t consider Derek her brother anymore. Derek didn’t realize that until Peter really was the last family HE had anymore.

Seeing that same little kid in the forest after that crushing blow was the last thing he expected. Except the kid was all grown up, the only reason Derek recognized him was the stupid shaved head and the huge brown eyes. He suddenly remembered the little talk and the way he smiled with tears in his eyes and Derek felt… calmer.

It took a few more meetings with Stiles to realize that his mom really was dead. He wasn’t that surprised, and honestly hadn’t given it a second thought until he saw him. But Stiles smelled… different. He smelled like leather and trees and sometimes like cologne. But he didn’t smell like a mom, he didn’t smell like someone with a full family and full affection. None of them smelled like that, actually. Allison did, but it faded away when her mother died. It was the smell of family and it was a dying thing.

Derek doubted that Stiles remembered the hospital, so he never asked. In fact, Derek tried to pretend the hospital thing never happened at all when it came to Stiles. Because Stiles was so annoying Derek wanted to rip his freaking head off half the damn time. He was the most stubborn person in the world. No matter how many times Derek told him to stay put, he would get himself into trouble anyway. He was noisy and stood up to Derek even when Derek didn’t know if he could control his wolf enough to NOT kill Stiles.

But it mattered. It mattered that Stiles was still the sarcastic and extremely strong little kid from the hospital six years ago. It mattered that sometimes in his weakest moments, Derek would keen under Stiles’ touch and submit, let Stiles take the alpha burden. There was never meant to be one alpha. Derek had memories of his sharp-tongued and violent mother calming down under his father’s touch. It was gentle and it was love and when Derek realized he was doing that with Stiles, it scared the crap out of him. He also knew there wasn’t much a point in fighting it. He was supposed to let it happen.

And he thought it was going okay. So maybe Derek wasn’t the confess-your-love-to-everyone type of person. But he smelled it on Stiles, maybe certain affection for Derek that could be something else. So Derek was content with taking things slow and letting them progress on their own. If they only ever progressed as friends, Derek would accept that. Because really, why would Stiles ever want him?

He was doing pushups and thinking about the next full moon when his phone buzzed with a picture of Stiles kissing (licking? drunk.) another guy. And he saw the photos on the internet. And he decided to ignore it before he found Stiles smelling like someone had been all over him. And anger and jealousy was boiling inside of him like he might explode.

And then he talked to Scott and realized he couldn’t just SIT here. It was time to take charge of the situation.

*

He was sitting down and watched Erica single-handedly wrestle both Isaac and Boyd to the floor, and he might have been grinning. He felt some pride in his Betas, really, but in his more sad times he thought if he died he’d have to pass the Alpha gauntlet on to Erica. She was really good at this. Females usually were.

He smelled Lydia come into the room before he saw her. He would smell her pungent shampoo mixed with the pathetic smell of teenage heartbreak from a mile away. He turned to see pouty lips and bouncing curls coming his way, and nearly groaned in annoyance.

Overall, she was behind all of this. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know she was the one sending him the pictures. She was also always present lately with everything happening between Stiles and this… Danny guy. She was up to something even now, walking towards him.

“Gonna have to ask you to leave,” He grunted as she stopped, leaning against the wall next to him, “This is a wolf-only area.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” She brushed it off. He growled at her and she shot him a dirty look, “Oh, stop with the big scary wolf thing. I am so over it.”

“It’s not a ‘thing’. You realize I could kill you, right?”

“Fully aware. Obnoxiously aware. In fact no one lets me forget it.”

Derek tried not to feel bad about that and failed. He glanced back at his betas, “Did you want something?”

She took a moment and a deep breath before speaking, “Stiles is going to the dance on Friday with Danny.”

Derek was glad Lydia wasn’t a werewolf, so she couldn’t hear the way his heart nearly stopped in his chest for a split second. He cleared his throat, “Okay. Not my business.”

“You’re so full of shit,” She sighed, flipping her hair as she turned to look at him, “I know you care. I’m not a total idiot.”

“Obviously,” Derek snapped, “Since you keep sending me stupid fucking pictures.”

She was silent for a second, “I just wanted you to see it firsthand.”

Derek relaxed when he saw the concern in her eyes and turned to the Betas. They all has stopped wrestling and were talking on the other side of the room. The way Isaac was standing revealed that they were actually listening in on the conversation. Derek turned and started walking, flinching his shoulder to signal Lydia to follow him. She sighed and did.

“It’s not my business what Stiles does.” Derek finally said after they were out of earshot of the betas and outside in the cool afternoon air. Lydia scoffed.

“No, but you want it to be your business.”

“Lydia-” Derek started growling.

“Listen to me, sour wolf.” She glared at him, “I may be just human, but I can tell you like Stiles so DO something about it and stop just standing there like an idiot. He likes you too. But no one can wait around forever, and if Stiles moves on because you can’t even bother to try, then I don’t blame him.”

Derek opened his mouth to say something snarky and then decided against it. He sputtered a bit and then closed his mouth, eying her. She was very serious looking, but perhaps a bit of fear there, like she thought he might kill her. In theory, he could if he WANTED to. But he couldn’t for that reason, he could never harm anyone in his pack. And he didn’t want her to be afraid.

“Why does it matter so much to you?” He asked quietly.

She relaxed and shrugged, “Stiles is a good person. He deserves to be happy where all of the rest of us are falling apart at the seams.”

Derek laughed bitterly, “So, what am I supposed to do about it? Stiles seems pretty intent on whatever with Danny.”

“You could start by telling him.”

“No.”

“Fine,” She groaned. Then her face lit up and she smiled, “Well, theres something I know of that works pretty well.”

“What?”

“Jealousy,” She eyed him, “Make him jealous. He’s been making you jealous, so why not get him back?”

Derek considered that. He shifted on his feet, “What do you have in mind?”

Her grin was possibly the biggest he’d ever seen, and he was already regretting this completely.

*

Going to a dance at a high school with Lydia Martin was not on the list of things Derek wanted to do, ever, under any circumstances. But against his better judgment and some weird urge to make Stiles fucking Stilinski jealous, that’s exactly how he was spending his Saturday night. Luckily it wasn’t a formal dance or anything, so literally all Derek had to do was hunt down a grey tank top and the only shorts he owned. None of it would be that bad if Lydia wasn’t clinging to his arm like her life depended on it.

“Why are we doing this?” Derek groaned. He stared into the crowd of stupid teenagers and had to actually breathe through his mouth because they all smelled like hormones and horny. Lydia paid the teacher at a table set up outside and he stamped their hands, eying Derek suspiciously. Yeah he totally was a fucking twenty three year old at a High School dance. Christ.

“You know exactly why. It’s all about JEALOUSLY. Nothing is more powerful.”

He glared down at her and she squeezed his arm, “But-“

“Don’t think so hard about it,” She said quickly, “Oh look! There’s Scott and Allison. Let’s go say hi.”

“God,” Derek groaned and tried not to think about the levels of humiliating this was. They approached the couple, who were leaning against one of the walls by the school. Scott had heart eyes focused on Allison until they approached, to which Scott glared fiercely at him. Ouch.

“Allison,” Lydia said loudly, finally letting go of Dereks arm. He stretched it out and tried to get the blood flowing again.

“Lydia,” Allison smiled, “Want to come to the bathroom and help me fix my eyeliner?”

“Sure,” Lydia said. Derek didn’t need to be female to know that was code for ‘we need to talk’. The two practically bounced away and Derek turned towards Scott.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Scott spat.

“Uh, standing?” Derek said. He knew what Scott meant but he didn’t feel like listening to him whine without at least being sarcastic.

“No. I mean, what are you doing here?”

Derek surveyed the crown of teenagers dancing to some really crappy pop music, “I’m here to piss off Stiles, apparently. Keep in mind that this really, really isn’t my plan.”

“Oh,” Scotts face softens a little bit, “So… you’re accepting this now?”

Derek growled in reply and Scott threw up his arms.

“God I was just asking.” He muttered. Just then he jolted and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He glanced at it and then held it out for Derek to see casually, looking away like he was ignoring some crime. Derek frowned and looked down at the opened text.

**To: Scott  
From: Stiles**

**Dude! I just saw Derek with Lydia! What the fuck?**

Derek tried not to smile. Lydia really is a fairly smart person sometimes, he made a mental note to give her more credit.

“Are you going to talk to him?” Scott asked, pocketing his phone instead of texting Stiles back. Derek sighed and wondered why he trusted telling Scott things despite his head telling him not to.

“I don’t really know what to say.”

“You could tell him how you feel?”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Yeah, that would require knowing how I feel.”

Scott actually nodded like he totally understood. It was annoying, “Look, just don’t hurt him okay? I don’t want to be forced to kill you.”

Derek laughed, “Right.”

“I’m serious.” Scott glared at him, “He’s my best friend. He’s been my best friend since forever. Trust me when I say I’d kill for him.”

Derek blinked in surprise. Scott looked like a dog protecting its master, and it was a reaction Derek expected of him with Allison but not Stiles.

“Okay,” Derek said flatly, “I won’t hurt him. I don’t think I am capable of doing that. At least not trying to.”

Scott nodded, “Okay, yeah. I know that.”

Allison and Lydia bounced back over to them and Lydia touched his shoulder, “Let’s make a scene.”

“Do we have to?” Derek grumbled, nodding his goodbyes to Allison and Scott as he followed Lydia towards the crowd of moving teens. The last of the sun was sinking beyond the horizon, and the neon lights were beginning to pulse with the beat of the heavy music. This wasn’t Dereks scene. It wasn’t even the type of music he liked. He like… Old bands. The Beatles and Kansas and the Clash. What the hell were kids listening to these days?

The crowd was thick, but Derek swore the younger kids actually flinched and parted a little bit when they walked through. Derek almost thought it was him (because honestly he’s had similar reactions before), and then he realized it was Lydia. They all gave her nervous looks and glanced up at Derek. He was slightly curious about why they had this reaction to her. She didn’t seem to notice, or if she did, she didn’t care.

She stopped and looked around, apparently deeming this a good place to stand. She turned to him and pressed closer into his personal space. It wasn’t awkward; the pack had a certain closeness that they shared and he was no stranger to having Lydia or Scott or Jackson in his personal space, scenting together as a “pack”. It was actually pretty comforting, because when she was close to him the scent masked all the strange smells a little better. Her arm rested on his shoulder and her hand touched the nape of his neck a bit. He placed his hands on her tiny hips, far enough up to be acceptable, and then they started swaying quickly to the beat. She wasn’t looking at him, instead choosing to glance into the crowd like she was searching.

“Why do people shy away from you?” Derek looked around at the people and couples grinding a little too much to be school-acceptable. The ones closest to them were looking at them and muttering and laughing, or trying to be as far away as they could be without being obvious. It made something in his stomach hurt. It reminded of him of the way people in New York stayed away from him when they knew about the fire.

“They don’t want to be near me,” She said nonchalantly, “I’m a class A freak these days. The girl who wandered around naked in the woods after a mental breakdown. The girl who was attacked and survived. It’s not just me, either. No one talks to Jackson unless they have to. They call Allison a freak behind her back. They avoid Scott and Stiles.”

Derek winced at her words. He never meant for that to happen, and couldn’t help but feel a little responsible, “What about Isaac and Erica and Boyd?”

Lydia laughed and finally met his eyes, “No one really talked to them in the first place. But, yeah. It’s more now. People are afraid of us.”

“They’re human, and they don’t know anything.”

“But they’re not stupid,” Lydia muttered, “Even before I knew, I knew. There’s something strange going on in Beacon Hills. There’s something  _not quite right_  with those kids in school.”

Derek grunted in acknowledgement, “I didn’t mean for that to happen to you guys.”

She shrugged, “I don’t even think the others notice it, really. I’m surprised you do. I don’t mind, of course. With everything that happens, my social status isn’t a priority anymore.”

“You’ve grown up. You all have.” He hummed. He felt Lydias hand on his waist dropping dangerously low. He grabbed her wrist and forced her hand back up with a warning growl.

“Prude.” She laughed.

He sighed and looked over her head, “So tell me, is bringing me here really for my benefit or yours?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, how much of this is an attempt to make Jackson jealous too?”

She tensed visibly below him and the song changed to something slower. “Why does everyone assume that I have selfish motives? Is it that hard to believe that I could be doing this for you guys?”

Derek laughed and offered her a smile that she just glared at, “That’s not what I’m saying at all. But can’t you benefit too?”

She sighed and the lights flashed over her face. She looked so worn and sad at that moment that Derek felt a little tug at his heart. He cared way too fucking much about the well-being of this pack and its members, and he was such a softy for heartbroken kids.

“Jackson doesn’t want me anymore.” She said softly.

“Bullshit.”

“It doesn’t matter. He really hurt me. I didn’t… I didn’t trust anyone before Jackson. I didn’t even like myself before Jackson. And he broke my heart.” She removed her hand from his waist and pulled it up to her face, wiping carefully under one of her eyes in a way that could have been nothing if he didn’t know better.

Derek smiled a bit and pulled her closer. Derek didn’t hug anyone usually, not anymore. But Lydia reminded him a lot of Laura in the little ways she acted, and reminded him even more of his mom. He couldn’t NOT try to comfort her. His arms wrapped around her lower back and she wrapped hers around his neck. They just stood like that for a few moments, Derek breathing in and relaxing.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Stiles a few feet away. It was like everyone had cleared and it was just them. The red and violet lights washed over Stiles pale face and at first, he looked so breathtakingly beautiful that Derek almost shivered. And then he met Stiles eyes, and saw the pure pain and anguish there that his heart nearly stopped in his chest. And before he could even nail down what was happening, Stiles turned and ran off out of the crowd.

“Stiles!” Derek shouted, pulling away from Lydia. She looked dazed, “Fuck.” Derek mumbled.

“Go after him,” She blinked. He didn’t need much more permission than that. He shot off through the crowd the way Stiles had gone, pushing people out of the way and ignoring their protests. Eventually he broke out of the crowd and glanced around. It was dark now, there were people everywhere and he was once again surrounded by a haze of unwanted smells. He shook his head to clear it and looked around furiously.

“Stiles!” He yelled out again. There was no shaved head in sight. But there was someone he recognized… He bounded over and grabbed Dannys shoulder, turning him around.

“Hey!” Danny said at the intrusion, then he met Dereks eyes and his face paled, “Oh.”

“Where’s Stiles?” Derek asked, trying to ignore the fact Danny smelled like fear.

“Uh, I don’t know. He went off to find Scott… Do you want me to call him?”

“Yes,” Derek said. Danny pulled out his phone and started looking for Stiles number. Derek glanced around for him again but had about as much luck as the last time.

“Stiles?” Danny said into the phone. Dereks eyes shot over him, “Where are you? Derek is looking for you.”

“Jesus Christ,” Derek groaned. Stiles definitely wasn’t going to tell him now… Wait.

“He says to fuck off,” Danny said to Derek, looking fearful and amused.

“Keep talking to him.” Derek said, closing his eyes and focusing his wolf hearing. It wasn’t something he should do, especially not in public. But he tuned out the music anyway, shifting through peoples voices while also half-listening to Danny.

“What’s up?… Yeah I kind of got that….” Danny laughed nervously, “Uh-huh…. Maybe you should just come here…. We can leave if you want to…. No he’s not paying attention… I thought you… Yeah… I didn’t know…”

“He’s here with Lydia, Danny! How did you not know about this!?” It was Stiles, clear in Dereks head. He stopped listening to anything else and locked onto that. Stiles wasn’t far. Derek took off running, listening to the echoes of Stiles voice in his head. He sniffed at the air as he made his way around the group of people. He headed towards the wall of the building and slowed down, trailing his fingers over the bricks. He listened again and heard a shallow breathing, smelled a familiar scent. He turned the corner of the high school where it was dark and vast and spacious. He came to a slow walk and listened. He heard a sniff.

“Stiles?” Derek hissed loudly.

“What the fuck!” Stiles stood up from where he had been sitting in the dark behind a pillar. He was glaring at Derek pretty obviously. Just then, the moon peaked out from where it had been hiding behind some clouds, shedding them with more light. And that is when Derek saw the tears in Stiles’ eyes.

“Fuck,” He whispered, taking a step forward. Stiles shot backwards and put a hand up. Derek stopped in his tracks.

“Go away, Derek.” Stiles said, looking away.

“No.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “Fine, whatever.”

Derek just stared at Stiles. This was it, some sort of… make it or break it moment. And suddenly his mouth was dry and he didn’t even know what to say…

“I guess that’s why she’s been being so nice to me.” Stiles said. He wasn’t looking at Derek, looking anywhere but at him.

“What?”

“Lydia,” Stiles muttered, “She was trying to find a nice to way to break it to me.”

“Break  _what_  to you, Stiles?” Derek grumbled, annoyed for no reason. He didn’t want this obscure bullshit.

“That you two are… a thing now. Or whatever.”

Derek actually laughed, and it was loud and bitter sounding. Stiles looked like Derek had physically hit him at the sound, so Derek closed his mouth. He sighed. “Stiles, I am not WITH Lydia. That’s fucking retarded.”

Stiles looked flustered, “But you’re at a dance with her. And you can say what you want, but you were really, really close to her about ten minutes ago!”

“I was comforting her. She was upset about Jackson,” There was literally no point in lying now.

Stiles laughed and it made Derek uncomfortable because it was so dry and not like Stiles at all, “That’s so much crap.”

“I am allowed to comfort my pack. In fact, it’s my job,” Derek felt hurt and anger bubbling up inside of him now, “Besides, aren’t you being a little hypocritical? Aren’t you here with DANNY?”

Stiles blushed visibly, “Yeah. As friends.”

“And me and Lydia are here. As friends.”

“I wasn’t dancing up close with Lydia!”

“Yeah, you’re right. You were busy  _grinding with Danny at a gay clu_ b!” Derek was yelling now and not even trying to contain his anger. Stiles jaw dropped and Derek felt his claws lengthening and if his eyes weren’t red, they would be soon.

“I… Don’t know what to say.” Stiles said. It was a whisper now. He closed his eyes and tear streamed down his flushed cheeks. They sat in silence and then Stiles laughed bitterly, “This is so stupid. We’re acting like we cheated on each other. But you can’t cheat when there’s nothing there.”

Derek sighed and let the anger fade away. Stiles was right, he had no room to get mad at him for anything he wanted to do, with Danny or anyone else. It wasn’t his place. He took a cautious step, but when Stiles didn’t reject it, he came closer. He stopped within a foots distance of him and reached out, touching his arm barely with the tips of his fingers.

“I thought there was something there,” Derek said. He was surprised at how worn he sounded.

Stiles blinked away the tears in his eyes and looked up at him, “What?”

“Between us,” God, he really hated how he couldn’t actually talk very well, “I mean, I thought there was something.”

“I…” Stiles shut his mouth and looked like he was processing, “I did too.”

He  _did_ , but that doesn’t mean he does. Derek felt something tugging at his insides, an overwhelming sadness. He wanted to wolf out and run so far away and never come back.

“I wanted,” He cleared his throat, “Something. It’s selfish to ask of you, to want anything from you. But I wanted it anyway.”

Stiles was looking at him but Derek was looking past him. He couldn’t take this.

“What did you want?” Stiles asked in something akin to a whimper.

“I…” Derek growled and ran his ran his fingers through his hair. His eyes were definitely red now, but not from anger. “I wanted you. I wanted you to put up with my mood swings, and to stop me from making horrible mistakes. And I wanted you to watch my favorite movies with me, like the original Frankenstein and Rocky Horror Picture Show. And then I wanted you to make fun of me because all I watch are old horror movies. And I wanted you to show me some current horror movies, maybe, like you talk about. I wanted that from you. And a hundred other things.”

Stiles eyes were wide and he looked speechless. Derek closed his eyes and turned away, walking the other direction. He needed to go, right now. He felt so stupid about even opening his mouth. He should have just spared the embarrassment. Now it was time to run off and do something really stupid, like die.

“Derek.” Stiles said, “Stop.”

He obeyed, even though his mind was screaming to just go. His heart wanted to keep trying. Scotts words to  _just try_  rang in his ears and he sighed, turning around. Stiles was rubbing his eyes, and then he approached.

“Do you remember that time in the hospital?” He asked. Dereks stomach dropped.

“After my house burned down. Yeah.”

Stiles ran his hand over his shaved head and met his eyes, “You saved me that day. I had no one, I didn’t even have my dad. You fixed that for me.”

Derek stared at him. He didn’t say what he was thinking, that Stiles had saved him that day too, in a way. Stiles kept talking.

“And you were so stupid. Just this stupid kid who talked to me when everyone else was avoiding me like the plague, but it meant something. And it made me who I was. And it felt like fate, that day, because I didn’t know how you could affect me later. By helping Scott or… any of this.” Stiles closed his mouth quietly, clearly done talking. Derek didn’t know what to say.

“Uh, okay.”

“You’re still so stupid.” Stiles grabbed his wrist and took a small step closer, “The stupidest.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “I get it, Stiles.”

He laughed, a pure little laugh. And then he leaned into Derek, forehead pressed into Dereks collarbone, hand still gripping his wrist like he would lose him if he let go.

“Please don’t leave.”

Dereks let out a shuddering breath and lifted the hand not being held and pressed it to the small of Stiles back. He listened to the music in the background, and realized he knew the song. He pressed a smile to Stiles’ hair and started mouthing the words.

_Hey Jude, don’t make it bad. Take a sad song, and make it better…_

“Are you mouthing the lyrics to a Beatles song?” Stiles murmured against him.

“They’re my favorite band.”

Stiles groaned, “You are so cliché.”

Derek breathed out a laugh, “I know.”

“Mmm…” Stiles practically purred into Derek and he was so curious about why he liked that. He was also confused, but he figured the cuddling was a good sign.

“I won’t, you know.” Derek said. Stiles made a noise like a question and Derek sighed, “Leave.”

Stiles pulled back a little bit and stood on his toes, pressing chapped lips to Dereks jaw and cheek. He shuddered under the feeling of it. It was foreign, yeah. But not unwanted.

“So, do you still think there’s something between us?” Stiles whispered in his ear.

“Figuratively or literally?” Derek mumbled, “Because that’s important to my answer.”

Stiles laughed, “When did you get a sense of humor? It’s horrible.”

Derek shrugged, “To answer your question, I don’t know. So you tell me.”

“Derek,” Stiles pulled back down and looked at him. Derek tried to focus on the feeling of Stiles slowly letting go of his wrist, “I think I like… love you. And shit.”

Derek gulped, “Oh.”

“I’m not asking for you to love me. But all that stuff you said… About watching horror movies, I want that. I want to try if you want to.”

Derek pulled his hand away from Stiles and pressed it to his face instead, stroking a thumb over his cheeks that were still wet with tears. His other hand found a similar position on the other cheek and gripped his face between his palms. He leaned down, licking his lips, and pressed them down into Stiles’. He kissed back immediately, friction and heat and heavy breathing. Stiles eased his tongue forward and Derek accepting it, sucking slightly to get a tiny whimper out of Stiles. He sighed and pulled back. Stiles leaned forward for more and looked so adorable that Derek laughed. Stiles glared at him, but Derek just let his hands fall down his chest, and then around his waist, pulling him closer.

“I like you.” Derek said.

“God I’d hope so, otherwise this is super awkward.”

Derek nuzzled the top of his head, “I mean it. I don’t like anyone. Not even Scott.”

Stiles laughed, loud and clear, “For the record, no one likes Scott.”

*

Eventually, they made their way back to the dance. Almost everyone was gone, save for a few dozen kids who seemed intent on staying until the DJ left. A slow and emotional song was playing when Derek and Stiles went to stand with the pack. Scott was sitting down against the wall, Isaac on one side of him looking like he was about to pass out, and Allison was on the otherside leaning on him and looking already asleep. Danny was leaning against the wall nearby and he and Scott were smiling into the crowd.

Derek and Stiles both followed their eyes and saw Lydia and Jackson dancing near the edge of the crowd. Their bodies were pressed together and their foreheads together, looking so sweetly intimate that Derek actually had to look away. It felt like an intrusion.

“I didn’t even know Jackson was here,” Stiles said, glancing at Scott.

Danny grinned, “He wasn’t. I might have texted him and told that she was here with Derek. Lydia is right; jealousy really is a helpful motivator.”

Derek met Dannys eyes at that and nodded. He understood now. He was grateful.

“Jackson always loved Lydia,” Scott said, pulling his knees up a bit and eying Derek, “He just needed to realize it.”

Derek rolled his eyes and reached out, grabbing Stiles’ hand. He tried to ignore the way that it made his stomach feel, to be open like that. Scott and Dannys eyes widened a bit, so Derek ignored them to pull Stiles into the crowd.

“What are you doing?” Stiles sputtered.

“Dancing with you, properly.” Derek hummed. He stopped and pulled Stiles closer to his chest and ignored how bright red Stiles cheeks were.

“Ah, this is like, so lame,” Stiles said, embarrassed. Derek smirked.

“Yeah. But I guess everything turned out okay.” He nodded towards Jackson and Lydia, now locked in a passionate kiss. But he was also talking about him and Stiles, too, in an offhanded way.

“Yeah,” Stiles sighed, “I feel bad though. I wish Danny could have someone, and be happy.”

Derek snorted, “He won’t have any problems there.”

“What’s THAT supposed to mean?”

“He’s pretty hot, man. Like, I’d do him.” Stiles frowned and kicked him hard in the shins. Derek flinched and pretended to be wounded. He grinned down. “Hey, maybe Lydia and Jackson will let him into a three-way.”

Stiles looked haunted, “Oh god. That’s just like my dream.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “I really don’t want to know.”

END


End file.
